


Yogi and Berry

by apocryphile



Category: West Wing
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-10-09
Updated: 2012-10-09
Packaged: 2017-11-15 22:41:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,273
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/532572
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/apocryphile/pseuds/apocryphile
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>I accidentally committed kitten!fic. It's all Tumblr's fault.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Yogi and Berry

**Author's Note:**

> Without a doubt, the fluffiest thing I have ever written. Literally.

“Why are we doing this again?”

She rolled her eyes at him.

“For the thousandth time, now that I don’t live with Lauren I miss having a cat, and my landlord said it was OK, so…”

“Yes, but why am I here?”

“So I can pick a cat that doesn’t hate you.”

“And that matters why?”

She stopped in her tracks and quirked an eyebrow at him and he held up a conciliatory hand.

“I know, I know. When I have a weird reaction to alcohol I’ve been known to come over and yell at the cats.”

“A weird reaction? Josh, it’s called drinking too much.”

“It’s really not.”

“Well, not for normal people, but in your case, three beers is too much.”

“That is so false.”

She shrugged.

“OK. In that case I’ll get the fluffy white one we saw back there.”

“The one that hissed at me?”

“She’s gorgeous.”

“She?! That… that thing is a minion of the anti-Christ!”

“Well, we couldn’t possibly have that. If the press got wind of it…”

He groaned and contorted his face into an expression of unbearable suffering.

“Fine, fine. What do I have to do?”

She beckoned him over to a pen where several kittens were playing, flopping onto her knees and cooing ecstatically.

“Aren’t they sweet!”

“You’re not getting all of them, are you?”

“I wish I could, they’re just precious!”

A volunteer, a middle aged woman wearing a vest covered in so many badges it would probably have functioned as low-grade body armor, rushed over.

“These little guys are from two litters that came in at the same time. They’re just ready to be homed this week. Would you like to meet them?”

Josh inched away but Donna nodded enthusiastically.

“Oh, could we? That’s so nice of you.”

Moving a lot faster than Josh would have given her credit for, the woman reached in and lifted out two kittens – handing one to Donna and holding the other one up in front of him. Reflexively, he stretched out his hands, and found himself with a warm bundle of grey fur wriggling against his chest. He made an indistinct sound that might have been ‘thank you’, might have been something less polite. 

The bundle of fur looked up at him. 

He’d never seen blue eyes on a cat before.

“Meow,” said the bundle of fur.

“Hi,” said Josh.

A few feet away, Donna was absently stroking the kitten in her arms, looking at him like she’d just seen a baby learn to walk. 

“He likes you!”

“You can tell it’s a boy from over there?”

“It says, up there. This one’s a girl.” She pointed at the sign.

He nodded, his attention back on the tiny animal in his hand, who was yawning dramatically wide, as only cats can. Josh couldn’t help it, he smiled. 

He looked back at Donna, ready to suggest that here was a kitten who didn’t seem to hate him, and saw that the tabby she was holding had climbed onto her shoulder, and was now perched precariously with one paw on her head. Donna had a firm hold on her little hindquarters and was laughing delightedly, sounding happier than she had in months. 

“Oh, hell,” Josh whispered to himself. Out loud, he said: “Hold still. I can take photos on my phone, right?”

She beamed at him, and he somehow managed to figure out his phone one handed and capture the daredevil little creature peering imperiously down from atop Donna’s blonde locks. The look on her face in the photograph melted away the last of his reservations. If he could ever figure out how to get the damn thing off his phone, that was going on the chalkboard for sure.

“Hold on!”

Having coaxed the kitten back into the crook of her arm, she snatched the phone and turned the tiny camera on him. He held the grey up to eye level and gave him an apologetic smile.

“Sorry about this, dude.”

Donna quirked an eyebrow at him but said nothing, snapping a shot of his heart to heart with the hirsute little cat, and then making him pose with both kittens. Afterwards, she slipped the phone into his pocket and coaxed the grey out of his hand, leaving him with the tabby, who he had already decided was trouble.

“Ow! She bit me!”

Donna’s face fell, and he swallowed the rest of his tirade, getting a firm grip on the kitten’s belly and holding her at a safe distance.

“…that’s just because she hasn’t gotten to know me yet.”

Under his breath, he adopted a less playful tone. 

“I’m doing you a favour, here, little miss toothy-pegs, so ix-nay on the—ow!” A tiny set of claws had found purchase at the base of his thumb. He glared, and lifted her closer for emphasis “And with the scratching!”

She removed her paw, and blinked at him.

“I can’t believe you listened to me.” He closed his eyes for a moment. “What am I saying, I can’t believe I’m talking to you…”

She started to purr.

“Oh, hell,” he muttered again. 

As he expected, when he turned back to Donna, she was giving him the most imploring look he’d ever seen – and that was saying quite something, considering he was the one who got to decide when she finished work every day.

“You don’t have to ask me about getting an extra cat, Donna.”

“But if I get two you’re going to mock me for being a cat lady.”

“I was going to do that anyway.”

She stuck her tongue out at him, but her expression quickly darkened.

“I can’t really afford two lots of vet bills. They’d both need to be spayed…”

In Josh’s hand, the tabby was still purring. The grey blinked at him from where he was curled against Donna’s neck – and then yawned again. Josh squeezed his eyes shut for a second and then took a deep breath. 

“How about if they both live at your place but one of them’s mine? I’ll pay for…” he grimaced, “…the procedure, and whatever else.”

Her whole face it up, and he hurriedly scooped both cats out of the way as she hugged him, hard. 

“I get to name them both, though,” he tried his luck.

“OK.”

He blinked in surprise.

“Really?”

She nodded, smiling.

“I hadn’t thought about names yet, and if you’re willing to help me get them both… What do you want to call them?”

He held up the grey and then the tabby.

“Yogi and Berra.”

She giggled.

“I should have known. Those are cute names.”

He looked at the tabby again. She’d stopped purring, and was regarding him with a disdainful air.

“Maybe she’d prefer something more ladylike. Berry.”

“Joshua Lyman, I do declare, you’ve gone soft.”

“Don’t you dare tell anyone.” His face grew serious for a moment. “Actually, seriously, Donna, we probably shouldn’t tell anyone that I’m, ah…”

She nodded immediately, and darted in to plant a feather-soft kiss on his cheek.

“I wouldn’t dream of it.” She looked down at the two kittens curled together in his hands. “Yogi and Berry. That’s perfect.”

Berry licked her lips and closed her eyes. Yogi turned his attention to subduing Josh’s tie in single combat.

The badge lady came back, beaming enthusiastically at them.

“You’re taking them both? Oh, that’s wonderful, they’ve been sweethearts since the day they met, they’ll be very happy together. I just need you to fill out a few forms, Mr and Mrs…?”

She trailed off expectantly. Josh just grinned.

“Close enough”, he muttered. The kittens purred in agreement.


End file.
